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Friday, April 27, 2012

Cinnamon-Raisin English Muffins, Made Easy

During my work week, I'm such a creature of habit. It begins with my alarm going off at 5:10am, stretching out and delaying (until the last possible minute) hopping into the shower so I can try and wake up. For at least two years, I make a cup of dark roast bold coffee in my Keurig, and toast a Cinnamon-Raisin English Muffin, lightly buttered with honey and enjoy it on my way to work-- listening to my daily podcast.

I stock up on English Muffins, when they are on sale and freeze them. Then, the unthinkable happened. One Monday morning, I sleepily reached for a muffin. Empty. Nothing. I checked the freezer, and the familiar plastic bag wasn't there. Nooooooo! The drive to work, just wasn't the same for me, as I sipped my coffee and made a mental note to stock up, after work.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention, so during my break, I decided to do a little research on how to make my own English Muffins. I found a recipe on "Baking Bites". That evening, I measured out the water, sugar and yeast.

Then, I unpacked the English Muffin Tins I had purchased some time ago-- with the intention of learning how to make English Muffins. NOTE: You don't have to own muffin tins. I've heard that people make them out of foil-- or the dough is supposed to be thick enough that you can do this "free form".

This is a plastic bucket with a lid, that I use a lot for making bread. A glass bowl and plastic wrap works just as well. To the sugar and yeast, I add warm water (at about 110F) and stir it; set it aside for 5-10 minutes until it becomes bubbly and alive.

Turn on the oven to WARM for 2-3 minutes and then turn it off. This is my way of speeding up the proofing process.

See this cool little tool? It's a Danish Dough Whisk, and this has become a handy little tool. It makes mixing bread dough a breeze.

It's been less than ten minutes, and I've measured out flour, raisins, cinnamon and I'm warming up some 1% milk to about 110F. The yeast is nice and foamy...

I've dumped in the flour and cinnamon, and now I add the warm milk...

...and mix the dough together until smooth.

This is effortless, I tell ya! The dough is wet, almost like a very thick pancake batter.

Add the raisins, and give the batter a good stir.

Cover the dough and let it rise. I placed mine in my warm and snug oven.

45 minutes later, we have English Muffin Batter!

The English Muffins are actually cooked, rather than baked. I used my cast iron griddle, that I very lightly sprayed with baking non-stick spray. I set the heat at medium-high. If you don't have a griddle you can certainly use a skillet.

I also sprayed the muffin tins with non-stick spray. So, this is very much liking making thick pancakes. I've made this recipe, twice, and found that 1/2 cup of dough worked out best. These do puff up a bit...

You will actually notice a bit of bubbles, which is a sign that it's time to flip the muffins over-- this took about 2-3 minutes. It all depends on your stove and skillet/griddle.

A couple of tricks that I learned, is that I used a small spatula to spread the batter evenly (if you're using tins). Otherwise, you can certainly make these "free-form" and use a spatula to shape them. If you're using muffin tins, they get hot (and I am speaking from personal experience), so having a towel to grab them helps. Just like making pancakes, I slipped a spatula underneath the muffin, said a prayer and....

The first once was a little messy, and borderline burned. That's why I suggest starting at a medium heat until you get to know your griddle.

I finally got the hang of it. Total cooking time was about five minutes per muffin.

The tins slip off pretty easily, so I could check if they were properly cooked.

I do recommend that you test one of the thicker ones. I didn't do that the first time, and I ended up with a couple of raw muffins. Not good.

See? It's not ready yet. You want a toothpick to come out clean. I let these cook for another minute, and they were done.

From start to finish, I had homemade Cinnamon-Raisin English Muffins in one hour! How fun!

I had to wait about 10-15 minutes for these to cool.

The moment of truth, as I split one open with a fork.

I know one thing, for certain. I will never run out of Cinnamon-Raisin Muffins again!

I packed up the muffins for the next morning...

I toasted a muffin, and made my cup of coffee...

...and added honey to it. All was right with the world, again.

TASTING NOTES: Delicious! It has just the right balance of cinnamon. It's so easy, that you don't even need to use a stand mixer. These are just as good-- if not a wee bit better-- than the commercial ones that I pay up to $4.00 a package for. The biggest difference, though, is that these need to be frozen, if you don't eat them in a matter of a day or two. Otherwise, they will begin to mold (also spoken from experience, after the first batch). You see, there are no preservatives.

I'm so glad that I finally learned how to make English Muffins. They're less scarey and complicated than I thought. Next, I'll work on a Whole Wheat version. I hope that you give this a try, yourself. Breakfast is an important way to start the day, and these would be a great way to do it.

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Great idea! I have made Sourdough English Muffins in the days when I kept sourdough going. Most recently I baked English Muffin Loaf, and cinnamon and raisins could easily be added to that!Your giveaway is really appealing.:)

I have been wanting to make English Muffins and have not yet tried them! Your post is inspiring me to give it a go as yours look just delicious. I have the dough wisk and use it all the time in bread making. It's a great kitchen tool.

I've made whole wheat english muffins(1/2 ww, 1/2 ap) and they turned out great. I've also had success adding some ground flax to up the health factor a bit. I'd love to use the dough whisk with my next batch :)

these remind me of the high-end EMs made by Wolferman's. i had no idea there are EM RINGS!

we're doing a month gluten-free right now, but i would love to give these a go when we're done. wondering if you've ever played around with alternative flours, like almond flour, for baking or bread making.

Danish Dough Whisk... yes please enter me your drawing! One can never have enough interesting gadgets to play with!Your English muffins look mouthwatering I have never even tried to make them "yet"dwmarks33@comcast.net

Wow, what a great post! We love English Muffins and for some reason, although I don't always love raisins in my baked goods, cinnamon raisin English Muffins are my favorite - esp. toasted with a little butter. The little molds are adorable - I have never seen them before.

I would like to be included in the prize drawing - anything to help out my bread making would be good:-).

First let me say that I would love to be entered in your drawing to win the dough whisk. I've heard great things about this handy little tool and would be thrilled to have one. And then on to the English muffins...you are amazing, my friend. Leave it to you to make heavenly English muffins in your own kitchen. I can imagine that they are delicious with a bit of butter and honey. I can think of all kinds of uses for those nifty little rings too.

I love english muffins...sometimes we use them for burger buns too. I'd love to be included for a chance to win your giveaway...I've been intrigued by those whisks and simply cannot wrap my mind around how they work with a hearty bread dough !

Hi Debby, I live in Canada so won't be in the draw but just wanted to let you know what a cool gadget that dough whisk is! I hadn't seen one before but I have a thing for kitchen tools so I'll be looking! Enlish muffins are so yummy, I'll be trying this recipe.

I love homemade english muffins - like most things homemade, they are just so much better. I kind of wish I could eat the same thing for breakfast every day. I usually just reheat leftovers from the night before!

Debby, your muffins sound delicious. I tried to link to you from my blog which I was able to do when you were using the blogger about page. I can't do that with your Google + page. It does not bring me here. If I didn't know the name of your blog I never could have gotten here. I do by the way post a recipe everyday. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary

I can't believe they're so easy to make! This is a wonderful discovery. Would be tickled to win the Danish dough whisk! What a nice treat! Looking forward to the recipe you come up with for whole wheat muffins!

Welcome!

Welcome to my internet kitchen. Please, sit back and relax, and watch me make delicious food and bakery recipes. Most of my recipes are simple, flavorful meals-- and a few baked treats. I focus on using fresh, seasonal ingredients and I try to avoid using boxed mixes and processed foods. I'm having fun learning how to cook like my grandmother once did-- from scratch! I hope that my step-by-step photos will inspire a timid cook to try them. Even if you're a seasoned cook, hopefully you'll learn a new tip or two.

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